I, along with the entire human race, am a huge fan of everything that Pixar has laid their hands on. I have joyfully sat through every Pixar movie with never so much as a complaint walking out when the movie was done.
Even Cars, known as the weak one of the Pixar bunch, was definitely worth sitting through for at least one watch through. There are very few sure bets, especially when it comes to good movies, but Pixar would be the closest thing to it. But why am I so apprehensive about Toy Story 3?
Sequels and movies aimed at kids are always such a tricky business. Using the recently released 4th movie in the Shrek series as an example, one can see how far a great first movie can fall when it uses a sequel as a means to cash in on it’s own popularity. It will often go for the cheap laughs that make the characters seem hollow catchphrases attached to CGI. Disney has a terrible track record with sequels (mind you, Pixar was a separate entity from Disney when the 2nd came out) as you may have noticed if you have had to babysit little cousins sometime in the past decade.
Looking at the trailer, there is a lot of potential for that. Buzz Lightyear getting a Spanish Accent is the main perpetrator in the official trailer. If this becomes a main part of the story, I can see myself growing very sick of it really fast. However, if they make it a small, Mrs. Nebitt-form-the-first-movie-esque, part then I could see some good laughs on it.
Also from the trailers we see Ken is added to the gang, and I think that the opportunity for Ken-related jokes died out once everyone got sick of that Aqua song. Many of new characters were glossed over from the first two movies for a reason, and I hope they are infused with character more than just put in there as a reason to bolster the merchandise line.
Aside from the worries, there still is a lot of heart to be seen from the trailers. If watching Andy growing up is as well done as the opening montage from Up that alone will be worth the price of admission. The thing about Pixar- the main reason that it separates itself from the other animation studios – is that characters really come alive in their movies. They’re not used as fodder for lame jokes, but are actually given depth and make you care for them outright. Pixar treats kids like young adults, giving them mature plot lines rather than mocking them with easy burp and fart jokes.
The last fifteen years has been especially dominated by Pixar; with toy story coming out in ’95 they have been able to craft great stories that contains more with and imagination than anything in the Disney Cannon. Their high standards exude in every movie, and Toy Story 3 will be put up to them as well.
Should you go see it? You definitely should. Even if some of the jokes are aimed for someone less than half your age. Pixar has ways of making every story endearing for everyone. It definitely doesn’t look as good as Wall-E or The Incredibles, but it’s the closest thing to a sure thing out there. Go watch it.
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